A Tattoo's Worth a Thousand Words
by BlackRoseGirl666
Summary: A drabble series depicting the lives of Tobias and Tris and the rest of the Dauntless Faction after the Abnegation Slaughter using the letters of the alphabet! RATED FOR: Kissing, Death, Swearing and Violence.
1. A is For Always

**Always**.

It was only on one of those stormy, cloudy nights that Tris would sneak out of the bed her and Tobias shared and go to the net that she had landed on when she first came to the Dauntless Headquarters what felt like so many years ago.

She would then climb on and lie in the centre, staring up at the raging storm outside through the hole, letting the harsh rain bite at her skin and face as much as it wished.

And then- only then- would she let herself cry over what had happened to her family and her people and everyone she had ever cared about.

She would let go of everything then and there, all of her anger and worry and sadness and despair, for under the cover of a storm she was safe to let her mask of the fearless new leader of the Dauntless Faction drop and just be the scared seventeen-year-old she was.

Of course this, the pain, the rage and the _fear,_ wouldn't last long.

Eventually, Tobias would find her and hold her in his arms, kissing away her tears and taking _his_ turn at being the strong one, just as she did when the nightmares of his father came back to haunt him.

Then, when things were calm again, they'd go back to their home in one of the winding sectors of the Dauntless Headquarters and sleep, only to wake up ready and willing for the chaos to build again.

This was how things worked and this was how things would **always** work.

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><p><strong>Hello! As I'm sure you've noticed this is the first chapter of my new drabble series! I hope everyone liked this, as it's my first time writing a drabble series (which I feel every fandom should have) never mind the that this is the first time I'm writing in the Divergent fandom I would greatly appreciate some review telling me how I've done!<strong>

**Anyway, I hope you all like this and will give me some feed back!**

**Bye!**

**BlackRoseGirl666**


	2. B is For Before

**Before****.**

Sometimes, when they had a moment to spend solely on the past, they'd remember what happened before.

Before they had become the nominated leaders of the new Dauntless, before the Abnegation Slaughter and the consequential political animosity between Erudite and most of every other faction.

Before they were initiated and before their respective choosing ceremonies.

Back when they were still known as Beatrice and Tobias, not Tris and Four.

Whenever Tobias thought back it was just a collision of fear and his father's harsh words and harsher beatings.

Tris got caught up in all the memoirs of feeling inferior to the rest of her faction and biting her tongue to keep from speaking out mixed with those of her loving family.

But regardless, they both decided that the now was better than the **before**, especially when they were close enough to hear the other's heart beating.

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><p><strong>Okay, here's the next chapter! Thanks to <strong>_**HyDrOmAtlc**_**for favouriting and to everyone else who read it! Please enjoy this chapter and please Review! I need to know what you're thinking! **

**Please Review!**

**Bye!**

**BlackRoseGirl666**


	3. C is For Cooking

**Cooking**.

There was a reason why Tobias never usually cooked, not that he'd told her, but with so many Dauntless being either dead or too injured to work so soon after the Abnegation Slaughter, as it was being called throughout the Fractions, that even the newly appointed leaders had a to lend a hand.

You see, after Tobias and Tris had scanned the Factions for any lost Dauntless and brought them back to HQ everyone had realized that, when you factored in the injured, dead and still missing, there were only half as many of them as before.

It had been a terrible shock, but, on the brighter side (Tris refused to call it a bright side as that would imply there was actually something "bright" about their situation), It had taught the previously thoughtless faction how to value what they had, this was why when the work charts were introduced, no one complained.

Tris mainly thanked her Abnegation upbringing for this, as the years of organized housework had given her the idea.

With so much work that needed to be done (i.e. guard duty, initiate trainers and testers, medics, tattoo artists, clothing designers and makers… ect, ect) it had made perfect sense to put people into groups and then change up the jobs every once in a while so people didn't get bored. Besides, it was only until the injured were back on their feet, the dead were buried and all the missing were found.

And thus was how Tris, Tobias and several other Dauntless wound up with kitchen duty.

Tris stared with something akin to horror on her face as she looked down at the… _thing _her fiancé had made.

She wasn't quite sure whether to laugh or hit it with a frying pan just to make sure it wouldn't attack anyone.

"Tobias, honey, what _is_ that?"

Tobias looked at her quizzically. "Macaroni and cheese, what else would it be?"

What else, indeed.

Tris frowned. She didn't know much about the fancy food they had in Dauntless but something told her that the macaroni and cheese didn't look like it was supposed to.

Turning to the other Dauntless in the kitchen the slightly awed but mostly slack jawed expressions they all shared just cemented her gut feeling.

Macaroni and cheese was not meant to be black.

Nor twitching if the slightly green tinge to the guy standing beside Tobias's… _thing_, was anything to go by.

Leaning over to the rather entranced girl beside her, Tris whispered a quick: "make sure that doesn't leave the kitchen," which the girl nodded to dumbly, before grabbing Tobias and heading into the dining hall where she explained that she thought he was better suited for the training unit and should leave the **cooking** to her.

Thankfully, he just smiled and kissed her heatedly before leaving through the doors to go prepare for the new batch of initiates.

Something deep inside of Tris told her she had just been played but then a mental picture of the thing rose up in her mind and, suddenly, she didn't feel so bad about being played if it kept Tobias out of the kitchen.

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><p><strong>Whoo! Longest chapter yet! I hope everyone enjoyed this one, my other two I felt were a little on the depressing side so I went for humour with this one. Anyway, thanks to <strong>_**Ani-Banani22 **_**for both Favouriting and Alerting this story and thanks once again to **_**HyDrOmAtlc**_**, this time for being the first person to Review!**

**Anyway, hope you all like this!**

**Please Review!**

**Bye!**

**BlackRoseGirl666**


	4. D if For Destroyed

**Destroyed.**

The version of Dauntless Eric had created was gone. It wouldn't be going to far to say that it had been **destroyed**.

Under the leadership of Tris and Tobias, New Dauntless, as many people had begun to call it, was blossoming into something great.

Teamwork and loyalty were encouraged while the bloodthirsty attitude Eric had forced on the faction was being slowly chipped away. Tris was determined to bring it to a point that no one like Peter or Eric would ever get into Dauntless again and, to her continues surprise, many people had agreed.

It still brought tears to her eyes whenever she thought back to that first day the majority of Dauntless had moved back into HQ and Tobias had starting calling out roll call, trying to see who was still gone and confirm who might be dead.

It had seemed like everyone had lost someone, whether a friend or lover or family it didn't seem to matter, everyone had lost someone.

On the brighter side (she was still finding hard to call anything concerning the Slaughter or its affects bright) the recent disaster had made it easier on the new non-Dauntless borne initiates.

Those from Erudite had kept, understandably, quiet, but the initiates from Candor, Abnegation and, surprisingly, Amity seemed to have it easier when it came to being bullied about their pervious factions, especially with Tobias and Christina training them.

Taking in a deep sigh Tris looked down on her faction with a happy smile, while it was true the Abnegation Slaughter had destroyed them in more ways than one, they had survived, and in some cases, thrived.

Her smile turning into a smirk as a pair of strong arms warped around her waist, Tris let one last thing slip through her mind as she lost all coherent thought.

It really was impossible to keep the fearless down.

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><p><strong>Okay, here's the latest instalment of my little drabble series! Again, I tried to leave this one on a happy note, I hope you all liked it!<strong>

**Thanks goes to **_**forced-to-grow-up**_** for Favouriting, Alerting and Reviewing! I love Reviews! It lets me know what everyone would like me to do!**

**Please Review!**

**Bye!**

**BlackRoseGirl666**


	5. E is For Ethereal

**Ethereal****. **

Sometimes, Tobias found it hard to believe she was his.

His.

Tris.

With her long golden hair that was now dyed with black streaks near her face and pulled up in a high ponytail.

And her pretty blue eyes that were outlined with black liner and mascara and a bunch of other stuff he didn't know about that made them pop like two slivers of ice from her unique, tanned face.

She was dressed like a true Dauntless girl in a tight black outfit made up of leather pants and top that showed off her tattoos. Her eyes were narrowed but her smile was kind.

She looked ethereal, standing there waiting for the train. The gold and silver hoops in her ears glinting in the sun and the light catching off the subtle gold and diamond band he had given her three months ago.

She had fussed about all this of course, insisting that she didn't need to get all dolled up just to meet the few remaining heads of Abnegation to sign the new treaty. But, in the end, Christina had won and hauled Tris off for a scary amount of hours only to return, five minutes before the train arrived, with a girl he couldn't stop staring at.

Absently, Tobias thought he'd have to thank her.

"Tobias! Hurry up, we're going to miss the train!" He grinned as he caught the twinkle in her eyes.

Matching her as she went to grab onto the train, he jumped and pulled her up with him, catching her ruby red painted lips in passionate kiss.

They separate for a moment, their breathing heavy, and her smile blinding. He gently swept his fingertips over her cheek, just to make sure this was really happening, and smiled.

Oh yeah, completely **ethereal**.

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><p><strong>Holy. Crap. <strong>

**I cannot believe this took so long to write! It's like it just didn't want to be written or something! I restarted this thing like five fuckin times! I mean hell, that's got to be again the rules of drabbledome or **_**something**_**. **

**But anyway, enough of my ranting. **

**Thank-Yous go to: **_**lillyann **_**for her wonderful review and to anyone else who Alerted or Favourited, I would thank you by name but my email gimped on me and I lost a few of them! **

**Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!**

**Please Review!**

**Bye!**

**BlackRoseGirl666**

(Ps. I just noticed that this is the first drabble from Tobias's Pov! I wonder how I missed that the first time around…)


	6. F is For Fail

**Fail**.

When Tris looked down into the Pit and saw all those hundreds of people she was responsible for milling around down there, she couldn't help but think of all the people she'd failed.

First she'd failed Abnegation, becoming one of the many to have abandoned their family and home for something else, something new, because they weren't happy with what they had.

Some days she's wake up with images of her father's eyes in her mind, she'd see them angry and accusing, the complete opposite of her mother's sad, accepting blue ones.

Then, after she'd arrived in Dauntless, she'd failed one of her friends.

She often wondered what would have happened if she had just forgiven Al after that stunt, if she'd tried harder to be nicer, more selfless.

Tris snorted, yeah right. If that had been her specialty, she would have stayed in Abnegation.

After that came a whole slue of people. Will and by extension, Christina. Her parents were both dead because she had messed up and Caleb was now, on official terms, a prisoner of war now that Erudite and Dauntless were at each other's throats…

Tris sighed heavily and pasted a smile on her face.

She knew Tobias would see through it, as would Christina and maybe Uriah and Tori, but other than them no one would figure out what she was feeling.

The rest of Dauntless wouldn't see behind her smile, they wouldn't see Beatrice Prior, the worried, uncertain girl who spent six out of seven nights a week training herself stupid because the nightmares woke her up in the middle of the night and the screams stopped her from falling asleep again.

They wouldn't see the girl who was still a little scared when her fiancé did anything more than a passionate kiss and was still shocked when she woke up and caught her reflection in the mirror in their bedroom.

No, they would only see Tris Six Fears, the strong, smart, friendly young woman who, despite her age, had complete confidence in whatever she did. The co-leader of Dauntless with her perfect fiancé, the handsome Four, who would lead them out of this disaster with Abnegation and Erudite.

Tris pulled herself up from her spot on the edge of the Pit and started heading toward the training room, Tobias said they were doing one on one matches today and she had wanted to go see how the newbies were doing.

Her smile got a little bigger, a little realer.

Plus she just wanted to be around him, he had this way of making her feel like no matter how bad things got, he'd always be there to make her feel better, to make everything better.

Her feet picked up speed without her notice. With Tobias by her side, Tris didn't think she could ever truly **fail**.

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><p><strong>Hello once again my lovely readers! I (for once) am in a great mood! I have received a great review (thank you Lo21!) and this chapter decided to co-operate! (Imagine that:) <strong>

**Anyway,**

**Thanks to all those who have reviewed/are planning to! And I hope everyone continues to do so!**

**Bye!**

**BlackRoseGirl666**

**(Ps. did you know that we've reached the twenty-more-chapters-to-go mark? I just realized that!)**


	7. G is For Grey

**Grey**.

Neither of them was sure if they could ever look at grey material ever again without gagging, no one in Dauntless was.

Grey material brought back memories, bad ones. Whether it be gun smoke and blood or the crack of a belt and harsh pain or the final screams of a loved one, every one in Dauntless got haunted eyes and pale skin whenever they came across it.

That was also why it was Tris and Tobias that were sent to Abnegation to sign the treaty; they were, by far, the best at hiding their weakness.

Plus, they were also the new leaders of Dauntless and they had both come from Abnegation, so it made double the amount of the sense to send them.

Of course, that didn't mean either of them actually felt comfortable going back to their place of birth, but they would do it.

For their friends and the people they didn't know who made up the Dauntless faction they would return back to Abnegation and face the memories of dirty grey cloth and blood stained sidewalks, and they would do it with their heads held high and their eyes cold.

Because, unlike everyone else in their faction, they couldn't afford to fear anything, not death, not life, not love, and most certainly, not the colour of blood soaked **grey**.

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><p><strong>Hey everyone! I'm immensely sorry about how late this one was, the damn thing was giving me some serious problems and I didn't have the time to deal with them, but I think I'm going to be on a role here so hopefully I'll be able to get one or two more done today! <strong>

**As always, Reviews/Favourites/Alerts are loved, thank yous go to: **_**TheyCan'tSeeMe4WhoIAm**_**, **_**0wasp0, QuickSilverFox3, forced-to-grow-up**_** and **_**Iwait4TheRain**_** for your lovely Reviews/Favourites/Alerts! Also thanks to anyone planning to!**

**Anyway, please Review!**

**Bye!**

**BlackRoseGirl666**


	8. H is For Help

**Help**.

It had taken a lot of persuading, but eventually she and Tobias had gotten the group of irksomely proud yet nearly fatally injured Dauntless to agree to the offered help.

Tris theorized it had only been so difficult because the faction offering help was Amity, who many a Dauntless had looked down upon for years because their virtues clashed so harshly.

But eventually the blood loss had set in and even the most anti-Amity individuals had agreed to the help offered by the kind faction, especially when Tris glared at them when she saw they were being difficult again.

So, after their initial arrival and a bit of bargaining between Tris and the leader of Amity, woman of about thirty with a perpetually sunny smile on her face and blindingly bright clothing, it had been agreed that because Amity was so close to Abnegation and Dauntless both that the kind faction would be a bit of a rest stop between the two, helping the injured Dauntless recuperate before they went back to their territory.

All things considered, everything had gone swimmingly.

Tris had gotten to reconnect with Susan's newly Amity brother, Robert, who because of his past history with Abnegation and minor friendship with Tris had become something of a messenger between Tris and the Amity leader (though she suspected Tobias didn't like him much if the glares were anything to go by), and the Dauntless had learned that just because you didn't carry guns didn't mean you were a coward.

Sitting in her and Tobias's room in Headquarters now, Tris couldn't help but think maybe it was good to need **help** every once in a while.

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><p><strong>Okay, I know that this one isn't exactly cannon but I could find anything that said where the different factions were placed so I just winged it, hopefully I'm not too off the mark but if I am, I'm sorry about it. <strong>

**Moving on, this chapter was posted about twenty minutes after **_**G is For Grey**_** so I don't anyone to thank for Reviews yet but I probably will in the next chapter or two! So everyone just know that they are very appreciated and I like them very much!**

**Please Review!**

**Bye!**

**BlackRoseGirl666**


	9. I is For Ignite

**Ignite**.

It was a strange thing to see.

They stumbled around the Pit with haunted, swollen red eyes. Their hands shook and their lips trembled, some of them openly cried. Everyone had his or her heads bent down, no one wanting to meet someone else's gaze.

It made Tris want to scream.

It was like someone had smothered the flame that lit up the members of Dauntless. The light of excitement and mischief that usually flickered in their eyes was gone, extinguished by grief and guilt.

Even her Tobias, who she had only seen lack his fire in the Fear Room, had his head bent down.

She couldn't take it anymore.

"Why are you all so quiet?"

Her voice rang out eerily over the silent Pit.

Hundreds of eyes glanced up at her, dead and dull.

It pushed her forward.

"Why are you acting like this? Why are you so shamefaced? What did you do?"

"We killed people! Innocent people! What are we supposed to do!" The voice wasn't old but it wasn't young either. Tris's eyes found a woman in her early thirty's; her face was lined with tears.

Tris's hands curled into fists, "what do Dauntless usually do when we're scared of something? We over come it, don't we?" Her voice was challenging and remarkably unshaken.

Tris barely recognized it as hers.

She now had the attention of the entire Pit, all of them looking up at her, some still with dead eyes others flashing with…something.

"Who said we were scared?" this came from a boy who looked to be about a year or two her senior, but Tris couldn't be sure.

His voice shook.

"Then why are you crying? It's not like you killed them because you wanted to, you were betrayed, we all were." Her voice dipped as her own memories rose up, along with the pain

She swallowed. "But we're Dauntless, right? We overcome things that make others cry, we don't let anyone break us, not even our own. Am I right!"

There was a muffled cry from a few of the younger ones.

Tris glared, "so you're going to let Erudite win are you?" Several people looked up. "You're going to stand down and show them that Dauntless was crushed because of a cowardly trick?"

There was a loud chorus of no's, Tris smirked.

"I didn't think so." She said quietly, looking around at her fellow members. "Dauntless needs to pull its self together, we have a new group of initiates coming here in less than a month, are we going to show them a weak Dauntless?"

The crowd replied no.

"Are we going to show them a scared Dauntless?"

The crowd roared back their answer.

Tris smiled. "Good. Now, I believe we should all get back to work. As I said before we only have a month and this place is a dump."

That got a couple of laughs as everyone returned to what they had been doing before, though this time it sounded more like the Dauntless she was used to.

Still smiling a little Tris walked off to go find Tobias, hoping that her speech would be enough to at least help Dauntless once again **ignite** their flame.

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><p><strong>Hey, here's the next chappie! I hope everyone liked this, I'm about ninety-five percent sure that it's the longest on in the series so far!<strong>

**Thanks goes to **_**Lo21**_** once again for a great Review! I hope everyone else is planning on Reviewing as well!**

**Please Review!**

**Bye!**

**BlackRoseGirl666**


	10. J is For Jumper

**Jumper**.

Sometimes Tris would think back to that first day in Dauntless when all she'd been asked to do was jump into a dark hole. Back when she hadn't been asked to lead a faction or negotiate peace talks or, possibly, lead that same faction to war.

Back when her biggest concerns were what to do about her family and how make it past initiation and how to deal with her handsome trainer…

Ah, to be naive again.

Tris smirked sleepily and rolled over in bed, snuggling closer into Tobias's side and wrapping her arms around him. Her fingertips traced lazily over his back, subconsciously fallowing the crisscrossing scars his father's belt had left him with.

Some nights she had nightmares where she wasn't the first jumper and some other girl with no face had been, Tobias would walk off her and Tris would be left behind.

Those dreams terrified her more than anything else, even the approaching war with Erudite.

It was also those nights that made her grateful for everything that had happened, including being told to **jump** into a hole.

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><p><strong>Hey, people! Truth be told I'm not entirely pleased with this one, I don't really like the flow or the theme so I'm kind of sorry about it, hopefully my next one will be better!<strong>

**Thank you to everyone who is planning on Reviewing/Alerting/Favouriting, I really appreciate the feedback!**

**Please Review!**

**Bye!**

**BlackRoseGirl666**


	11. K is For Killer

**Killer**.

Everyone in Dauntless was a **killer**. It didn't matter if they had done it against their will, they still had blood on their hands and the memories in their minds and it had begun to eat them apart.

Some people used alcohol to deal with it, others drugs or some people just locked it away.

Tris didn't know what section she belonged to, she knew Tobias was a 'lock it away' person; she was the one who held him the night when the nightmares started.

She knew Christina had used alcohol for a while before she had finally snapped out of it with the help of Uriah, and she knew Tori used her work as a tattoo artist as a way to cope.

Tris supposed she was a 'lock it away' person to, as she didn't have any other vice to deal with it, she didn't have the time to find one.

Or maybe that was the type she was, a 'work it away' type. It seemed to suit her as, every time she saw one of her Dauntless members smile or react in a way they would have before this mess it seemed to make her guilt and distress melt away a little to.

Yes, Tris thought, it seemed that everyone, she included, had a way to work passed their memories and move on.

But that still didn't change the fact that her faction was made up if killers and that, eventually, it would once again catch up with them; just like how Erudite's greed and Abnegation's selflessness caught up with them.

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><p><strong>Er, I'm not entirely sure what happened here, this one just kind of got away from me *sheepish smile.* But anyway I personally think its better than my last one, sort of I guess.<strong>

**Moving on! Thanks this time goes to the wonderful **_**TheyCan'tSeeMe4WhoIAm **_**for the wonderful Review! Thank you very much and I hope everyone else will her example!**

**Please Review!**

**Bye!**

**BlackRoseGirl666**


	12. L is For Lost

**Lost**.

Some days, Tris couldn't decide if it was she who wanted to get lost or if she just wanted everyone else to.

This was one of those days.

Tris took in a deep, shaky breath as she slowly slid down the door of the bathroom she had locked herself in a second ago. They (they being the Dauntless party come to Abnegation for the funeral service of those Abnegation lost in the massacre) had just come back from the service were she had said goodbye to her parents.

She hadn't cried during the entire thing, even though she'd desperately wanted to, no one from the group of Dauntless had, but now she was alone and she could, and damn did she.

She cried over the fact they hadn't let Caleb come, apparently it was because "officially" he was an Erudite war prisoner of Dauntless and thus it was to "risky" to let the grieving son who had lost both his parents in the same day come say goodbye.

Tris choked a bit and she cried harder, uncaring of her destroyed makeup.

Caleb hadn't cried or acted out when she had told him, he'd simply closed the book he had rested on his lap and taken a deep breath before nodding and leaving.

It had broken what was left of her heart.

"Tris? Love, please come out! Christian's having a mild fit out here worrying about you and Tori's began to wear a bit of a hole in the floor pacing."

Tris smiled a little and rubbed the heel of her hand over her face. Tobias's voice was deadpan but she could hear the first strings of urgency leaking in, and then Christina and Tori…

Christ, did she think she was going to go catatonic on them and slit her wrists with the travel sized dental floss (which was the most dangerous thing in the little grey bathroom as there was no mirror or pills and just a tiny shower. So unless she got creative with a toothbrush…) they had been provided with?

Tris snorted.

"I'm fine, Tobias, really, just g-" her voice broke a bit, adding less credibility to her story, " Just give me a second, I'll be out in a bit."

The other side of the door was quiet for a time and Tris thought he had left before his voice came through the door again.

"You have ten minutes to get decent before I start picking the lock, I'm not leaving you alone to cry all night."

Tris blinked owlishly for a second before jumping to her feet and hurrying to unlock the door, the last thing she needed to do was explain to the Abnegation leaders was why they needed to replace the locks in the bathroom.

As soon as the grey door swung open Tris was wrapped in his muscled arms, the spicy, all-male scent of his black leather jacket enveloping her senses as she pressed her face into the crook of his neck.

It was silent between them, no murmured assurances or sweet nothings like in the books she had caught Christina with a while back. It was just the two of them. The beating of their hearts and the sound of their breathe the only sounds they needed to draw comfort

His fingers ran lightly, almost unnoticeably, through her hair and she fisted her hands in his jacket and relaxed into his hold, her body no longer tense and her tears pouring freely.

Tobias had always been good at this.

Good at soothing her when she started crying, good at taking care of her when she didn't have the time to.

Just plain good.

She didn't think anyone would expect him to be like this, so comforting and gentle, not after what he'd gone through with his father.

But then again only a close knit group of people even knew who Tobias was, everyone else just saw Four, the tattooed tough guy trainer-turned-leader who was dew to marry the tough ass, semi-compassionate Tris Six Fears in a couple months.

And then, even those who knew Tobias didn't see this side of him.

No this side, this little world they constructed during moments like this, was solely hers.

And when she looked up into his stunningly deep blue eyes, she found her self completely content to just get **lost** in this little world, their little world.

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><p><strong>Hello again my friends! And how are you? Hopefully, you're in forgiving mood because I am very, very sorry over my epic lateness! Sigh, I even did this super long drabble to help try and appease you! It's like 800 words! That's got to count for smoothing right? Especially considering that I had to deal with a triple gym black today and lets just say my body isn't made for that kind of pressure, especially not just coming off of summer break.<strong>

**But anyway, moving on.**

**Super amazingly huge thank you to the completely awesome **_**HyDrOmAtlc**_**! (Note the underline!) This amazing Review has now officially Reviewed all the chapters off this story (sans this one at the moment) and offered some great feed back that lead me to fixing all my earlier gimps in other chapters! (So unless you're reading this chapter after ****Thursday September 8 2011 ****please go back and reread)**

**And now that we've properly celebrated **_**HyDrOmAtlc, **_**lets move on to the other awesome people who have Reviewed/Favourited/Alerted!**

**Thanks to: **_**Awesomet88, Iwait4TheRain and elle on air!**_

**Anyway, please forgive the huge Author's Note and have a lovely day/night!**

**Please Review!**

**Sincerely,**

**BlackRoseGirl666 **


	13. M is For Midnights

**Midnights.**

Tobias smiled down at her lovingly as he stroked away a piece of hair that had fallen into her face, revelling in the gentle moan that escaped her lips.

They had been lying like this for hours, Tris half awake after the day they had endured in Candor, trying to get them to sign a treaty agreement that would keep them neutral or co-operative in the war brewing against Dauntless and Erudite, and him kissing her every chance he got.

But, about a couple hours after they'd started talking, Tris had finally dropped off, not that he blamed her.

Saying that it had been tiring would be an understatement. Especially when one considers that you cannot eventone down _anything_ to a Candor lest they believe it a lie and blow a gasket over it.

Of course, it was Tris and Christina that had done the good majority of the bargaining. He and Uriah it seemed had only been present as security and moral support and, perhaps, appearances, but that was it.

He had been extremely proud of Tris, as he'd silently watched her charm the Candor leader into signing the treaty. Playing up on the brutal betrayal Erudite had dealt all the factions while at the same time stating that Dauntless didn't want a multi-faction war on their hands or a new government, they just wanted to get back at Erudite.

And eventually (i.e. close to three hours later) the Candor representatives had signed the treaty and the Dauntless had left, thoroughly sick of the colours black and white and longing for home.

Sighing contently, Tobias leaned back in the relatively low-to-the-ground carriage they were sitting in, becoming a little more pleased with himself when he realized that his stomach hadn't jumped this time when the seat tipped back.

This, the abandoned ferries wheel and surrounding park, had become one of his and Tris's favourite spots. It was large and out of the way and mostly hidden by trees so they didn't need to worry about persistent "well wishers" (he called them stalkers) or the like.

And besides, he had discovered that the more he sat up here with Tris, the more his fear of heights was beginning to diminish.

Tobias smirked, he'd like to see them try and call him Four when he only had _three_ fears to deal with.

Absently, his gaze traveled over Tris's sleeping form. She had nodded off less than an hour ago while they had been chatting and nursing a couple of the beers they'd brought with them this time.

She looked so sweet like this it nearly shocked him.

The lines around her eyes and lips when she was glaring or frowning disappeared, the worry line between his eyes smoothed and, painted in the silver moonlight like they were now, he could nearly see the original little initiate she had been before the world started to take its toll.

Pulling her closer he planted a kiss on the corner of her mouth, smiling against her lips when he felt her hands twine in his hair.

He supposed this was why they needed **midnights**, not for sneaking around in the dark to go into the fear room or for beat up little pricks who picked on innocent girls because they were scared but for this, those quiet moments that made everything worth it again.

And damn was it worth it.

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><p><strong>Hello again my lovely readers! I'm really very sorry about this chapter in lateness and all that. It didn't want to be written if you get what I mean. But anyway, Whoo! Second time writing in Tobias's POV! High fives!<strong>

**Thank yous to: **_**HyDrOmAtlc**_** (as always!)**_**, Lo21, IamDivergent**_** (the first person with a fully Divergent Username I've seen), **_**booksaremylife4ever, TheyCantSeeMe4WhoIam, phoenixflamesimmortal **_**and**_** Kassandra-Nichole!**_

**Anyway, super thank yous to all those above and to those who are planning on Reviewing! You know I love them!**

**Bye!**

**BlackRoseGirl666 **


	14. N is For Never

**Never**.

There were a lot of things Tris knew she would never be. There were almost as many as the things she knew she would never see or hear or touch or smell or taste or feel again.

One of the things she knew she would never be was the same. Whether it be in the sense of being like everyone else or simply being as she had been before, she would never be the same again.

It had been hard to comprehend that, or at least it had for a little while, but then it got easier.

It got easier with every look a Dauntless member slipped her that spoke of their trust in her and her decisions. It got easier every time she felt the sting of a needle biting into her flesh. It got easier every morning when she laced up her black combats and stuck her black-streaked blonde hair up into a high ponytail.

But, that didn't mean it ever truly got easily.

Especially on those rare mornings when she caught a glance of Beatrice Prior in the mirror hiding behind the black mascara and hair dye. Or when she caught her brother looking at her like he barely recognized her when she was speaking to the new initiates. Or when she realized that she could no longer look at grey fabric without puking a little in her mouth.

But those times were getting fewer and fewer and longer apart, so much so they could almost add them to her list of things she'd never feel again.

Tris didn't know how she really felt about that.

On one hand it would be nice to forget about everything in Abnegation, forget the Slaughter and everything that had had a hand in changing her. But on the other something inside clung to it.

Something inside her hated the idea of loosing her old self, of loosing Beatrice and letting Mrs. Six Fears take over. It scared her, the idea never being just Beatrice again.

Hell, she hated the whole damn thing. How everything was so black and white, so one or the other. She couldn't function like that.

That was what never was, right? A "one or the other" thing. Never being something meant you lost everything that came with it just to gain something else. Just like by never being weak she could never be Beatrice but she could be Tris.

But what if that wasn't enough? What if, in order to be the Tris she needed to be, she had to keep the pieces of Beatrice as well?

All in all, Tris figured that she rather despised the word never. She figured that's why she was Divergent. Because never didn't work for her and it **never** would.

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><p><strong>*Blinks owlishly up at the drabble above* Would Any of you believe me if I said I had no idea where this came from? Because I <strong>_**really**_** have know idea what happened here. One moment I had been happily typing along, praying for something akin to inspiration when **_**wham **_**this thing slams into me and I only realize what I've typed half way through proof reading. **

**Sigh, but enough of my semi-ranting, it's time for thank-yous!**

**Thanks to: purplepeace, HyDrOmAtlc (whose screen name I'm not ever sure if I'll be able to type with out checking three or four times for spelling), TheyCantSeeMe4WhoIam and awesomet88!**

**Thanks also to anyone planning on Reviewing/Alerting/Favouriting and to everyone who reads!**

**Bye,**

**BlackRoseGirl666**

**(Ps. did anyone notice that this is number fourteen? That means we're officially over half through! Isn't that amazing?)**


	15. O is For Over Rated

**Over-Rated**.

It was disgusting really, the way they were treated after the Erudite-Dauntless war was over.

It was like somehow, amongst the blood and death and dishonour, they had all become some kind of deity, some kind of representation of all that was right and good in the world.

People bowed to them, shook their hands, offered up their very _lives_ for them.

Or they turned and ran in awed fear.

It made Christina want to gag.

She knew she was no different than everyone else who had fought, yes; she was Tris's right hand when Tobias was occupied (an extremely rare occurrence these days), but she was still just another soldier in the New Dauntless army, just another weary face amongst thousands.

She was just another member, no different than anyone else.

So why was she special to them?

She wasn't like Tris, who, for all her Abnegation ideals and mannerisms, had been a true Dauntless Leader the moment she jumped from that roof. And she wasn't like Tobias, who had inspired the courage of thousands despite being fearful himself.

She wasn't a leader.

She wasn't a hero.

She was just another girl who grew up to fast, fell in love even faster and lost everything in the blink of an eye. Just like a thousand other girls all throughout the factions.

But no one else could see that- no one else _would_ see that.

So when Tris came by her apartment at seven am every morning with coffee and a tired grin, dressed up in her Dauntless finest and understanding in her eyes telling her that they had a Council meeting in thirty minutes she would just suck it up and get ready.

No fighting, no complaints just acceptance.

And she would do because she was the only one that could do it.

No one else could take her place in the public's eye as Tris's female right hand and complete confident, no one else could be the made up persona of Christina, the tragic love-lost war heroine.

No one else could be _their _Christina but her, the person _their_ Christina had come from.

So she wouldn't smile (that was Tris, the compassionate leader's, job. Not her, the tragic one's, job), but she would stand quiet and graceful in black leather and cloth with her hair all pretty and she'd accept their over-rated affection and fear and respect because that was what they all did, what every icon did.

Because lets face it, if their characters hadn't been so drastically over-rated and rewritten, if the public believed they were still _typical, normal_ people, it would be impossible to keep going.

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><p><strong>Hello my beautiful and lovely readers! How have you all been? Well, hopefully a little better now that I've (finally) updated!<strong>

**Once again I had some trouble with this chapter (sigh, when don't I?) but I still hope you like it, I went for a bit of a new direction with this one what with setting it from Christina's point of view so I hope you don't hate me for it!**

**Thanks goes out to: **_**IamDivergent, Awesomet88, HyDrOmAtlc**_** (of course) and **_**quidditchprincess**_**!**

**With thank yous also going out to anyone currently planning on Reviewing/Favouriting/Alerting!**

**Bye!**

**BlackRoseGirl666**

**(Ps. anyone go to the Avril Lavinge concert October 1****st****? Completely kickass, right?)**


	16. P is For Price

**Price**.

If there was one thing Tris had learned from the ordeal that had started the moment her blood fell and burned in Dauntless's fire at the Choosing Ceremony, it would be that everything, _everything_, had a **price**.

Another thing she had learned would be that it was almost always someone else who paid it for you.

Because she couldn't forgive, Al had paid with his life.

Because she had shot Will, Christina had lost her love, both for life and her friends.

Because she kept secrets, she caused the others to second-guess themselves and their relationships.

Because she was Dauntless, her parents had lost a daughter.

But, she had also learned that it wasn't _just _her that made people pay, oh no, she'd paid a good deal herself as well.

In order to keep Dauntless safe and unbroken, she had paid with her humanity. Sacrificing it so she could become the cold killer and guardian they needed.

To help Christina deal with her pain, Tris had fallowed her wishes and left her alone. Losing Christina as a friend in all but the most public occasions, when they were forced to be together by the public's expectations.

As a way to keep her brother safe, she had sent him faraway to Candor, with the knowledge that he'd never forgive her for not letting him fight.

In order to keep her new home as it needed to be, she'd gave up her every human fear she still had and became their new leader.

No one knew of this, though. Tris had given up her ability to wear her heart on her sleeve before she'd ever stepped foot in Dauntless. The only person who really had a clue was Tobias, and even then she tried to keep him at a distance when that subject was approached.

It wasn't hard really, she mused. Giving so much up and hiding so much more. When you thought about it, both the aforementioned things were really just the basics of being an Abnegation, something she had spent so much time practicing at that it was impossible for it not to stick.

Sacrificing your wants and hiding your needs.

Paying willingly and keeping quiet about it.

Never taking more than absolutely necessary.

That was why the Abnegation were the leaders, she supposed. Not because the embodied selflessness and had a holy want to help others, but because from the moment they were born, they were taught how to give everything up. How to pay for everyone and thing that needed it, and how to do it with the most utter and utmost silence.

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><p><strong>Holy hell, can you believe it? I just completed a chapter that A) didn't fight me. B) I actually like. And C) isn't ridiculously short! It's a bloody miracle!<strong>

**But anyway, on to other things.**

**1. Can you believe we're on chapter 16? Just ten more drabbles nd we're done! *Brakes out in happy/sad tears.***

**2. Thank Yous! They go to: Pixie Clouds (love the username), LiveLaughLove53, iuhcidieh, Awesomet88, HyDrOmAtlc (my first and best Reviewer), TheyCantSeeMe4WhoIAm and gracie1998.**

**Okay, and also I'd like to ask you all something.**

**Recently I got a lovely PM asking me to do a piece (which will most likely be a separate 1000-2000 word oneshot with romance and tragedy for the genres) for the currently nonexistent fanfiction pairing of AlXTris. Why am I telling you this? Because I'd like to know if anyone else thinks I should do it.**

**Anyway, I hope to see you all in the Reviews/Favourites/Alerts! (Ps. don't forget to give your answer on the AlXTris thing.)**

**Thank You and Sincerely,**

**BlackRoseGirl666 **


	17. Q is For Quiet

**Quiet**.

It was these moment Tris treasured above all others.

It was late; so late she estimated she only had a few hours before first the sunlight. She was lying down on the ground with her legs dangling over the chasm's ledge, the metal bar of the railing between her knees. She could feel the mist from the rushing waters settling against her skin.

She was alone; Tobias had work to do for the new initiates, Christina avoided her at all costs unless it was something public, Caleb was… somewhere, she couldn't remember exactly where.

Tori was at the shop, working late on something so she could have a free-day tomorrow. Tris was meeting her for lunch to go over wedding details, seeing as Tori was her maid of honour and all. Uriah had gone back to the apartment building after dinner was over.

It was quiet; the only thing she could hear was the white noise from the rushing waters of the chasm. It was peaceful. She liked it.

There was no Tobias trying to keep her grounded, focused. There was no Christina, sending her barely hidden glares behind her smiles. There was no Uriah, who couldn't hide a sympatric look if his life depended on it. There was no Tori, who was so good at not noticing things she could still smile like everything was all right.

There was just Tris.

Tris and her ghosts.

That was why she typically avoided silence like this; it let her drift. It let her bring back memories she usual didn't want to remember. Stuff she locked away.

But she also found silence like this was also kind of therapeutic, the war had made her a good thinker and she found that she liked to get herself lost in her thoughts and memories sometimes, it kept her from drowning in them latter on.

So, in the safety of her own mind, in the peace of the dark quiet that had descended over the Dauntless HQ, Tris let her mind take her far away. Let it take her to Abnegation before the Slaughter, let it take her back to Al's death. Let it take her through everything.

And when the quiet ended and Tris woke with tears on her lashes, she'd find herself unsure of why there was dread in her stomach:

Was it because the quiet had ended, or because she knew it would start up again?

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><p><strong>Hello my readers and Happy Thanksgiving! (Not sure if I'll be updating tomorrow so I'm saying it now;) Hope you all liked this chapter, I honestly don't know how I feel about it, I don't necessarily hate it but I don't love it either, I guess. Sigh, whatever.<strong>

** Thanks for the Review to: WordsAsStrongAsSwords, Awesomet88, gracie1998, iuhcidieh and (as always) HyDrOmAtlc!**

**Also thanks to anyone planning on Reviewing/Alerting/Favouriting! **

**Sincerely,**

**BlackRoseGirl666**


	18. R is For Ruffled

**Ruffled**.

She often left Tobias with his mouth open in awe.

The way she walked, so gracefully and yet with so much power in her steps.

The way she spoke, quietly and so compassionately that the entire room heard her easily.

The way she tilted her chin when she was speaking to dignitaries, the way she bit her bottom lip when she was thinking, the little, secret winks she would give him as she stepped down from a speech or some other social function where it was "inappropriate" to do anything more.

The way she took insults with nothing more than a half smile and an apology that left both him and the offender confused. The way she never got mad but always got even.

The way she always kept her cool.

He'd seen her fear-scape, with her by his side of course, and he'd watched her as she bravely faced each fear. Watched her body shake before something snapped and the solider in her took over.

It was sad but it was also inspiring.

Some days he missed the old Tris, the one who wasn't so unshakable and sure of herself, or at least wasn't forced to hide it like she did.

This Tris, _his_ Tris, had been forced to become a very good actress over the years.

And while he was proud of that, he still took pleasure in knowing that if anyone could ruffle the unshakable, unbreakable Tris's outer mask in front of hundreds of people, it was him.

And that's just what he proved when he proposed to the newly named Leader of Dauntless in front of, literally, the entire Dauntless Faction.

He still smirked thinking about it, Tris had looked so gorgeous that day.

Christina, who had still been Tris's friend at that point, had done her makeup and helped her pick out an outfit for her acceptance speech she was being forced to give now that the people of Dauntless had named her their leader.

He knew she had been nervous but she hadn't shown it, she'd worn the perfect smile on her face and spoke with confidence and just the right amount of excitement, even throwing in a fist pump towards the end. She'd been perfect.

And then, just before she had a chance to disappear, he'd gone up to her dropped down on one knee and asked her to marry him.

And just like that he'd, rather successfully, shattered Tris's well-placed mask.

She'd looked so shocked, everyone had, but he hadn't worried about her saying no, he'd had a feeling and he was usual right with those.

And then, after a full ten minutes of stammering and stuttering and suitably wrecking her reputation of social perfection, she'd finally said yes. Her face completely red from blushing and in the softest, meekest voice he'd ever heard from her.

And Tobias had proved that yes, it was possible for Tris to have **ruffled** feathers; it just had to be the right person doing the ruffling.

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><p><strong>Yes, I too noticed that my drabbles have been getting a good bit too angst-y over the last while, so I decided to mix it up a bit and throw in some nice, wholesome fluff! Hopefully I didn't mangle it to bad seeing as I am in no way a 'fluffy' authoress and usual do something a little more… sad. Or tragic, depending on my mood. <strong>

**Anyway, thanks to: **_**gracie1998! **_**And anyone else who's planning to Review/alert/favourite! **

**Sincerely,**

**BlackRoseGirl666**


	19. S is For Stupidity

**Stupidity**.

Some days it was hard to believe the plain stupidity of the world.

Not to say it was anyone person who was necessarily the cause of it, it was just world in general.

Or at least that's how Tris felt about it.

It was stupid to put a couple of 16 and 17 year-old-teens in charge of a faction of thousands. It was stupid to think that you had to be vicious to be brave. It was stupid to force people to shoot other people.

It was all just so dumb it was unbelievable. Laughable, even.

And yet here they were.

With kids as young as ten in therapy with PTSD, and a hundred more bodies in the morgue because they couldn't take the guilt and decided to move on to: "exploring the unknown, uncertain place." as Eric had put it a Al's funeral.

With the cities being made up of more orphanages than apartments. With four "peaceful" factions under so much tension a war was inevitable and with everyone watching patiently as it happened.

It was dumb that the most logical, _smart_ faction had started a war because of a misconception. And it was even stupider that only one faction was aloud to rule over the other three.

It was stupid that everyone thought that if you were brave you couldn't be nice, and if you were smart you couldn't be honest. And it was completely unbelievable the amount of power that was given to what was, basically, a _personality__test_.

But, Tris had found, that if you wanted to live in this world you had to be able to deal with the stupid.

If you wanted to be leader, and a good one at that, you had to try and make sense of the idiocy and if you were in the public eye then well, sometimes you had to play dumb.

It was just the way this world, _their_ world, worked.

And, rather scarily, Tris thought she could see how it had worked.

When one leader did something more noticeably dumb then the last guy, someone else came along and bobbed him off. Then someone else would take the previous guy's place and things would continue on. Sometimes this would lead to war. The war would be won and lost and everyone would either be dead or go home and the cycle would start again.

All throughout history this had happened. Tris didn't know why the founders of the factions had thought it would change because they separated people. If anything that might have just made things worse.

Because now there was more than just one leader to hold responsible and instead of just small differences amongst those people they were dealing with four large, solidified groups whose beliefs clashed violently with each other.

Tris found it hard to believe the founders hadn't foresaw something like this happening.

But then again maybe they had, and they were just so desperate for peace in their present that they couldn't bring themselves to give a damn about the future.

Tris found that she could understand that, even if it was rather dumb.

But then again, their world was run by **stupidity**, wasn't it?

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><p><strong>Hello my awesome readers! How are you all doing on this rather okay day? Hopefully, rather well. Anyway, Hope you all enjoyed this one; I had fun with it despite the time it took me to get it right. Number 19! Can you belie it? Just 7 more chapters before we're done! I still can't believe it.<strong>

**Moving****on.****Thanks****goes****to****that****fallowing:**_**gracie1998,**__**WordsAsStrongAsSwords,**__**Awesomet88,**__**tollulu**__**and**__**booksaremylife4ever!**_

**Also apologies to anyone I missed, I had an email gimp and lost a few of my emails. **

**Sincerely,**

**BlackRoseGirl666**


	20. T is For Trust

**Trust**.

When she was a child, trust had never been an issue for Tris.

Originally, she didn't think it had been a problem for _anyone_ in Abnegation. What with how everyone was always trying to serve everyone else, betrayal was never a concern for them.

She had always thought that was one of the pros of Abnegation living.

Now she knew better.

Trust, Tris found, was a weapon more than it was a defence. When you trusted someone, you were essentially giving him or her a loaded gun they could use to kill you. All because you though you could trust them.

Of course, if wasn't just the mysterious "them" who could cause harm with trust. Whenever someone put their faith, their _trust_, in _your_ hands it was just as easy to pull the trigger. Tris, as a leader of thousands as well as being a sister, fiancé and friend, knew that all to well.

Trust was also like a mirror. It showed what kind of person you were by how many willingly put their lives or their secrets in your hands.

And of course, like all mirrors, it rarely ever showed everything.

It was easy to break as well; Christina had shown her that. And like a mirror sometimes the pieces were to sharp to pick up again.

Another lesson from her regrettably former friend.

These days Tris found she didn't have a lot of time for trust, seeing how often it betrayed her and all. She couldn't tell if it was war that made her think like that or normal life, she supposed it didn't matter anymore.

Tris did know the importance of trust though. Or at least the importance of keeping up the pretences of a loving trusting leader to the public even when one wasn't sure if they could trust anymore.

She knew she loved Tobias, but when he pulled her into his arms at night after a long days and whispered in her ear that he'd "always be there", a small part of her couldn't help but whisper "liar" right back.

No one was ever always there; it was silly to think they would be. She knew Tobias knew this but her kept on telling her he would always be there.

And it was chipping away at her **trust** in him just a little more every time he said it.

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><p><strong>Hello my readers! I hope you're doing well and that you're enjoying the <span>20<span>th chapter just as much as I am! **

**Thanks to: THEbookwormways, WordsAsStrongAsSwords and Awesomet88!**

**Please Review!**

**Sincerely,**

**BlackRoseGirl666**


	21. U is For United

**United.**

Tris stood at the edge of the pit like she had a thousand times before. She stood tall, with her hands clasped behind her back and the toes of her black boots just barely over the edge. Her eyes were down cast and her mind was racing.

How was she going to do this?

The thought ran rampant in her mind.

She was just one girl. One short, tired, confused _sad_ girl. She wasn't inspirational or focused or even _happy_. She wasn't honest or confident and she didn't know the first thing about leading a nation.

How was she going to do this?

How the _fucking __hell _was she going to do this?

She knew what she needed to do. That wasn't the problem, she knew what to do in that department, but the actual _doing_; that got her stuck.

There were just _so_ many of them. All with different ideas and strategies and opinions of what their endgame should be; how was she supposed to consolidate them all? Was that even possible? Tris didn't know.

Tris didn't really know all that much anymore.

She did know some things, though.

She knew she had to find I way to get these people to trust each other, to _want_ to fight together.

You couldn't do anything without a common want, a will. She knew that, too.

But how? How could she convince a group of betrayed and war weary people to trust her and their fellow Dauntless with their lives after what they just went through? Trust was what had gotten them into this mess in the first place!

Tris sucked in a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes, casting them down at the Dauntless members below her.

The Pit wasn't as full as usual; it hadn't been for a while. Most people were still I the infirmary, healing, and those with families were usually surrounded by them.

Maybe that was a starting point, Tris though with minuet interest as she watched a couple of small, black clad children pull a women with blue hair over toward the infirmary doors, a spiky red-headed man fallowing them.

Maybe if she could get people to see Dauntless as one big family, as corny as it sounded, then maybe, just maybe, they would have a chance at standing together, of unity.

Because if there was just one thing Tris knew, it was that if you did not stand **united**, you did not stand at all.

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><p><strong>Hello, hello and Happy (late) Halloween my wonderful readers! I trust you're all doing well and (hopefully) enjoying this chapter in spite of its lateness? Well, I really, really hope so! *Chuckles nervously* <strong>

**Anyway, thanks goes to: Acalla, OwlSilverLight131930, Awesomet88, WordsAsStrongAsSwords, , i CaN bE a FrEaK and booksaremylife4ever!**

**Thank you also for the wonderful people who are planning to Review/Alert/Favourite!**

**Sincerely,**

**BlackRoseGirl666! **


	22. V is For Vapour

**Warning:** This drabble gets what some would call "steamy" though it is most definatly not a lemon. In my opinion it's not so bad but I've been told my opinion has become skewed from the books I read. Just remember that it has been stated that they are engaged, I can only hope that you all know was engaged couples do (unless it's against their beliefs or something).

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><p><strong>Vapour. <strong>

Tris stuttered a gasped when her back hit the wall, seeing as she couldn't keep herself on her feet much longer it shouldn't have surprised her that much.

Her knees went weak when she felt Tobias press his lips to hers; though his strong hands on her shoulders and his black dress-pant clad knees on either side of her hips had kept her up.

Her eyes glazed over when he stripped her of her long, red leather jacket, leaving her in nothing but a low cut silk blouse that showed off her tattoos and a short black leather skirt.

A skirt that's short hem was currently being played with in a decidedly taunting manner, one that was driving her absolutely _crazy._Luckily her husband seemed to have noticed, as she was without it a second latter.

The six black pearl buttons on the front of her blouse were destined to be next.

The stringy, black heels she'd been wearing had barely made passed the threshold of their apartment.

And her hair, god her hair, the pretty little bun it had been in had been unpinned and messed up before they'd been out of the car.

They, just she and Tobias remarkably, had been attending a political charity-dinner to help raise funds to rebuild all the places the war had destroyed, it had been the most dressy event Tris had been to sans their 'wedding'.

Not that she really considered the big, fancy politically (and socially) demanded ceremony and, well, she guessed you'd call ball when you took into account all the high-class crap that went on a '_wedding__'__._

It had been more of a circus really, both media and otherwise.

But it didn't really matter.

She and Tobias had already had a small ceremony with their closet friends and family prior in front of the old ferris wheel, which had been strewn with electrical fairy-light for the occasion.

Her brother had walked her down the candle-lit isle and Tori had stood as her maid-of-honour while Shauna, one of the first Dauntless girls Tris met when she first arrived, and another girl she had met during the war and kept close to took up the other two bride's maids places wearing deep purple, strapless knee-length dresses of Tori's design.

Uriah, his older brother Zeke, and another guy had stood for Tobias, all of them wearing leather vests and white dress-shirts with black cargo pants and a piece of bleeding heart in the pocket with their ties matching the girls' dresses.

Tris and the girls still laughed when they remember trying to wrestle the guys into the outfits.

Her dress had been a pretty little white A-line thing with a flat neckline and a deep purple sash that matched her eye-shadow and nails, she'd forgone the vile so Tori had improvised and instead braided a few miniature roses into her hair.

After the ceremony, which had consisted of Caleb reading out a couple lines from the Dauntless manifesto that concerned weddings and finishing with the classic lines of "you may now kiss the bride" after Tris and Tobias traded rings (which would soon be swapped for tattoos, courtesy of Tori) and before everyone had started laughing.

Shauna had then started up the music and Zeke had brought out the beer.

It had, all in all, been perfect.

Except for the fact that Christina, while she'd been invited, hadn't come.

That'd hurt Tris, especially when a month latter at her other wedding the girl had taken her place as one of Tris's bride's maids with a huge smile.

She understood though, if the tables had been turned and Christina had been the one to shoot Tobias dead Tris didn't think she'd turn up for Christina and Will's secret wedding either.

Tris gasped again as Tobias abruptly finished the last button on her blouse and pulled it away, leaving her in just her lacy black bra, underwear (which had been a bridal party gift from Shauna) and thin black nylons.

It wasn't just her that was lacking cover either; Tobias was down to just his dress-pants.

Had she forgotten to mention that?

Eh, whatever. God, Tobias looked she good like this, with the moon light casting his face in smoky shadows and his blue eyes at their darkest.

Breathing out a sigh Tris pushed herself forward and curled her rosy, blood red nails in Tobias's silky hair. Humming in delight when their lips met.

She loved this feeling, this dark rush. It made her feel loved, wanted and as far away from her reality as possible.

She didn't want to end.

But eventually it would, it would slip away with the moon's light until like vapour through her fingers until it had opportunity to come again.

"I love you, Beatrice." The hot whisper made her shiver as Tobias swung her bridal style into his arms.

"I love, too, Tobias, and I always will." She whispered back, her voice husky and scalding in her throat as she leaned in closer to seal it with a kiss.

Yes, she'd do anything to hold onto this, even if she knew it'd slip away.

Just like **vapour**…

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><p><strong>Hello! I've been getting some requests from my lovely readers to get some more romance in here so… here you go! Hope you all liked it!<strong>

**Thanks goes to: Awesomet88, WordsAsStrongAsSwords, booksaremylife4ever and Ten-Ten Ruggles!**

**As well as any and all of my future Reviewers/Alerters/ Favouriters! **

**Sincerely,**

**BlackRoseGirl666 **


	23. W is For Weary

**Weary****.**

It was a strange feeling, this utter deadness in her body. The way it slunk into her mind and dizzied her perspectives was annoying and strange. The way it dulled the fire in her heart was frightening and taunting.

It made her not care.

How funny was that? She, Tris-Six-Fears, not caring.

Absolutely ludicrous.

Tris could only remember very few times in her life when she could with all honest say she didn't care about something. Like when she'd run down the streets in Abnegation instead of walked or when she was flying down that zip line when she'd just been an initiate.

All of which had been a very long time ago.

But now, as she sat here at her large, glass and steel desk that sat facing the tinted windows of her office staring down at the fax she just received, which clearly stated that Erudite wished to just _now_ start peace talks with the other factions, she couldn't help but want to put a giant "FUCK YOU" stamp right over the neat little place the secretary who had typed this up had left for leaders to put their best time for a meeting.

Tris slumped back in her black leather chair. Seriously? The war had last five years in total and now, two months after the end, Erudite wanted to admit defeat? They couldn't have done a couple years earlier? Saved that many more lives and time and recourses? What kind of shit was that?

Tris stared at the pristine letter with something between disbelief and hatred. How was it that a letter could look so damn cocky? Fuck, maybe she was just loosing it.

With a resigned sigh Tris shifted herself forward, snapped up a black ink pen and filled in the blank with her best time, two weeks from now on Friday November 6th before filling in her squiggly signature on the designated line and slipping the whole thing into a white envelope.

Then she printed the return address written on the envelope it had arrived in and putting that into a manila folder with the official Dauntless seal on the front and her signature. That way no one would be inclined to sneak a peek before it arrived at the Erudite Headquarters.

Then, Tris called up _her_ secretary, a fellow veteran of the war, and got the twenty-something year old former sniper to send it off A.S.A.P.

Tris watched the door to her office snap shut with detached interest before sliding down in her chair and shutting her black eye-shadow coloured eyes closed.

There it was done. The ball was in Erudite's court now.

On some level Tris knew she should be worried right now, tense. Maybe questioning her judgement or calling Tobias so he could keep her at ease. But this, Tris found, was the beautiful thing about her current mindset.

When you were as **weary** as Tris was, things stopped making you care.

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><p><strong>Yo! Say hello to chapter 23, just three more chapters to go! Isn't great? I'm so stoked! This my longest (chapter-wise) story yet! It's great!<strong>

**But anyway, thanks too: WordsAsStrongAsSwords, Awesomet88, Erin, Lostinawonderlandofdreams and HannahEmilyNicole!**

**Sincerely,**

**BlackRoseGirl666 **


	24. X is For XOXO

**XOXO.**

If Tris had a secret, a personal secret, not an official, off-limits-public-security-secret but just a little something about herself that she didn't let just anyone know, it would be that her favourite holiday was Valentine's Day.

She knew it went against her character, both the one the media had created and her real personality, but there was just something about the decidedly mushy holiday that drew her like a moth to a pink and red flame.

Valentine's Day. Pink and red hearts, pink and red flowers, pink and red teddy bears with mushy messages stitched on the front and enough chocolate to feed the Dauntless Army for weeks.

Tris had never much been a fan of hearts, the only flowers she liked were orchids and a few types of roses (not red mind you) and the occasional lily, she'd never had a teddybear, even as a little girl in Abnegation, she'd preferred skipping ropes and while every girl likes chocolate, Tris's lifestyle had pretty much forbade the sweet, sugary treat unless it was a special occasion.

And, while it was hard to live in Dauntless without liking red at least a little, pink had never been her colour of choice.

So why was it then, that she liked it so much?

Well, it could have been because the holiday pretty much represented everything her life _hadn__'__t_ been during the war, what with all its mushy, love-and-let-love mojo the only thing it had in common with the gruesome five year war was the colour red, and even then the shades were wrong.

Or maybe it was because of who the holiday had been named for, a saint back in the ancient times before the Factions who would secretly marry lovers after an evil ruler forbade marriage because he though it put a damper on his army recruitment.

Tris hummed herself a little song as she rounded the corner and inserted the key to the medium sized apartment complex they shared in the Dauntless HQ. They'd bought just before the war had started picking up partly because they loved the feel of the place and partly out of the paranoia they shared that Dauntless would crumble if they weren't able to get to their posts in less than five minutes.

Sure, that paranoia had succumbed to the lull of peace time enough for them to spend more than a night away from the HQ and the lack of windows got a little annoying from time to time, especially considering Tobias's claustrophobia and Tris's fear of being unable to escape, which had only intensified after Jeanine had tried to have her drowned in that locked room, but they still loved the place.

And as she'd said, the paranoia had only abated enough for them to take a weeklong break from time to time; she hadn't said anything about it going away enough to move.

With an amused sigh Tris pulled the black wood door open and let herself in, her black velvet heels making soft tapping sounds on the dark hardwood floors of their living room.

Flicking on the lights Tris felt her red painted lips tug up as she looked around the room and saw several different bouquets of calla lilies in tall, clear glass jars scattered around the room.

All around the room a varying array of rose petals lay scattered across the floor and right there in the centre, on a small glass stand, was a creamy white card with golden edging, her birth name, Beatrice, written in small, sure lack lettering.

Crossing to the stand Tris carefully picked up the card and flipped it open, the small diamond on her wedding band glimmering in the light.

_Dear Beatrice,_

_Thought we should do something special this year, meet me in the bedroom._

_XOXO,_

_Tobias._

Tris felt a slow, happy smile stretch across her face as she put the card back on the stand and turned on her heel, her walk getting more provocative as she neared the door, her mind becoming for the first time that day thankful that she'd had the women's intuition to wear her current ensemble of tasteful, tight red dress and heels instead of the black cargos and tank top she'd been considering.

Tris's heart sped up considerably when she caught sight of her just-black-sleeping-pants-clad husband, her own face returning his wicked smile tenfold once her brain caught up with her body, which had already made its way onto the bed and to straddling said husband's lean hips.

Tobias pushed himself up to a full sitting position before pushing a hand through Tris's silky blonde hair and pulling her into a passionate kiss to which she responded wonderfully.

"**XOXO** indeed," he whispered in her heatedly, Tris shivered as his hand went for the zipper at the back of her little red dress.

_Oh__yes,__that__'__s__right._Tris's mind thought lazily as Tobias made short work of the zipper and started pulling her out of the dress, his eyes slowly seeping into a dark midnight blue. So this was why she loved Valentine's Day.

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><p><strong>Yes, I do realize that Christmas is the next closet holiday and yes, I do realize we're in November but I don't really care. I'm still living off the buzz that comes with finding something other than X-Ray that starts with X. <strong>

**But anyway, hope you all liked this! It got a little steamy towards that end but from the feedback I got from Vapour I think I can safely deduce that you don't mind!**

**Thanks goes to: .catching and Awesomet88! **

**See you all latter!**

**Sincerely,**

**BlackRoseGirl666 **


	25. Y is For Years

**Years.**

It didn't feel like years to Tris. Not even months. Evens weeks stretched it a little.

It felt it had been just yesterday that she'd been lining up behind Caleb; so nervous and scared that she didn't even think about slitting her hand at the Choosing Ceremony.

It felt like just hours ago that she'd been a brand-new initiate, preparing to jump into that dark hole. It felt like minutes ago she'd survived the Abnegation Slaughter and just seconds ago she'd come off the battlefield, bleeding and weeping and laughing like a lunatic.

And at the same time, it felt as though all of that was a lifetime away.

Tris didn't understand it. Didn't pretend to either. It was a quirk, one that strengthened every time Tobias rolled over onto his side in the middle of the night and looked into her eyes and whispered to her: "is it really over?" so very delicately, like if he raised his voice their perfect, peaceful, happy life would shattered and they'd fall back into war.

It strengthened every time she caught Tori looking at her with an expression that said: "is that really the little Abnegation girl I tested way back when?"

It strengthened every time she caught Caleb in the newly created United Factions Library, poring over books and documents and manuscripts and journals from ever faction trying to fit together how their world came to be.

Sometimes it strengthened so much she was the one asking Tobias if it was really over.

Sometimes it strengthened so much she was the one looking at Tori with an expression on her face that said: "is that really the Dauntless woman who tested me way back when?"

Sometimes it strengthened so much it was Caleb who caught her poring over the more recent wartime documents in the United Factions Library, trying to figure out how it had happened.

And sometimes she just sat there, looking at the twenty-odd pictures that were scattered around her office, both nailed to the Dauntless-red walls and sat up on every available surface, and wondered: "where have all the **years** gone?"

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><p><strong>Yeah I know, not exactly the knockout, second-to-last instalment you were all waiting for but I thought it fit. I mean that's kind of how I feel when I read this story over, except my version's "where have all the letters gone?" I mean, hell people! We're going onto Z! The last chapter!<strong>

… **Or will it be? You'll just have to wait and see!**

**Thank yous go to: Awesomet88, iuhcidieh, xHPFan31x, DarkAlice and avisandoppungo!**

**Sincerely,**

**BlackRoseGirl666**


	26. Z is For Zero

**Zero.**

Zero.

That was a loaded word for Tris.

In some cases it was a cruel tease, meaning that she'd never amount to anything. In others it was an end, a signal that she'd run out of time and now she was going to see if she would fall or fly.

Or it meant that there was no more, that she was out of something.

Like during the war when she realized she had no more bullets to shoot or that one time when she'd been riding in a deployment plane and the co-pilot had coming running out of the cockpit, screaming about how the plane had been sabotaged and the fuel tanks drained, that the gage had just hit zero and the plane would crash.

They, her and twenty other soldiers, had been forced to pull on their parachutes early and jump from the plane into the mits of an Erudite-Candor clash on the edge of Amity territory. Only fifteen including her managed to get to the Amity safe house, both the pilots had died when the plane went down as well.

But zero also had its good meanings, too, she guessed. It was also considered a number of renewal wasn't? And the Faction Peace Treaty had been signed on January 1, 2090 at 0-hundred hours, so there was that…

All in all zero was one of those words that kind of tripped Tris up a little, not that she minded, she kind of liked it when something tripped her up a bit, it kept things interesting.

Tris tiredly brushed a kiss onto the tiny forehead of the small little human she had just, as in mere minutes ago, given birth to. It had been a long road that had got her here, now twenty-nine, the leader of a nation, a war hero, a friend, a saviour, a lover, a wife, a sister-in-all-but-blood and now, a mother, and she wouldn't have traded any of it.

Tris might have been a Dauntless woman, but she'd been an Abnegation girl first and if she'd been taught anything during the war, it was that your upbringing never left you, no matter what it was.

The Abnegation were selfless, undeniably so, but they also knew the worth of things, including scars and wounds.

Both of which Tris had in spades. As did Tobias, who was currently getting his bruised hand looked at now that Tris had finished cutting off the circulation. So did Tori, who was in the waiting room with Zeke (Tris though maybe there was something going on there but she wasn't sure yet.) and Uriah who was most likely trying to keep Shauna, a former military medic who always had a bone to pick with the Heath Care System, from freaking out to much.

They all had scars- some more than others, some more physical than others –and they all had led long, exhausting lives leaving many scratches and dings in their wake.

They were the complete opposite of this little girl Tris now held in her arms, who was just at the very beginning of the beginning of her life, at zero.

Tris smile as the baby- _her__baby_; god how she wished her mother were here to see this –blinked her tired little blue eyes up at Tris, looking at her curiously reaching her tiny hand up to Tris's finger.

"That's right sweetheart, I'm your mama." She whispered quietly, her eyes tearing a little.

Oh yes, they were all dinged and messed up and scarred, and yeah, Tris did treasure each of her wounds as a way to remind herself that she'd survived it. But now…

But now, holding onto her tiny little girl's small, small hand Tris couldn't help but think maybe they were both at zero now, and it was time again to start making a different journey. One, hopefully, without so much blood.

The baby, who still needed a name, Tris reminded herself, she and Tobias hadn't wanted to know the gender until she was here and name-hunting would only make them want to know more than they already had, giggled gleefully and clasp her little hands tighter around Tris's bigger, rougher one.

Yeah, Tris though drowsily as Tobias entered the room, his hand bandaged but otherwise fine, and sat himself down on her bed, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and the other going to help cradle their child, a look of awe on his face as she giggled at him, too.

Maybe it was a good thing to go back to **zero** every once in a while.

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><p><strong>Wow. I've no idea where this came from. I hadn't even thought about adding a baby but… whatever. It works! And it's not pathetically short! Hurrah! <strong>

**Anyway, yes. This is the last chapter of _A __Tattoo__'__s __Worth __a __Thousand __Words_, it has been fabulous my lovely, awesome, amazing readers but it has come to an end…**

**Or has it? You see I happen to have one or two little drabbles stuck back in my files, ones that I wrote because of plot bunnies and didn't like enough to post as full drabbles because of a variety of reasons. But, seeing as you've all been begging me to keep writing this… I was wondering. Would you like me to post them on here? Make sure to tell me in your Reviews!**

**As well as that, what would you like Tris and Tobias's baby girl to be named? The top three suggestion (by my pick) including full, middle and last name will go on a poll on my page in two weeks time, voting will be for however long it takes me to want to write a sequel to this (hint, hint). If I don't get enough likable suggestions than I'll fill in the missing spots. **

**Anyway, Thanks you to: _Awesomet88, __WordsAsStrongAsSwords, __booksaremylife4ever, __samcheese1 __and __gwood and anyone else who's ever even glanced at this story!_**

**Fare well (for now;) and Happy Holidays! **

**Sincerely,**

**BlackRoseGirl666 **


	27. Extra 1: O is For Over

**Over.**

Even though it was officially over, it wasn't really.

Not so long as they still had the memories, the skills and the scars to prove of its existence. Not so long as it was still taught about in school, not so long as people still shed tears for the ones lost.

Not so long as the ratio of orphans to children with parents was five to one, not so long as there were more graveyards than parks, not so long as all of Tris's _paper__work_ somehow reminded her of it.

So, it really wouldn't ever be over.

Which some people could consider a good thing.

She did.

Because if it was over than they wouldn't remember what they had learned.

The Abnegation wouldn't remember how to defend themselves anymore, the Amity would still let injustice pass them by in the name of peace, the Erudite would still be exclusive and snobbish, the Candor would never forgive and forget and the Dauntless would still be selfish.

So, in hindsight, it was a good thing it was never over.

Or at least that's how Tris viewed it; she wasn't sure what the others thought. Would they think her crazy? She wasn't sure and really, she didn't care very much either. There was still too much to do to go about caring about something like that.

So with the knowledge that it wasn't really over she had carried on and on and on and that was what she would do until it was fully, completely **over **and it was someone else's turn to start it again.

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><p><strong>Here you go! The first of the three extras I'll be tacking on before this thing can be considered completely done. Hope you liked it! Ps. I haven't gotten one name submission for Tris and Tobias's little girl! Come on people, think and submit!<strong>

**Thanks for Reviews go to: Awesomet88 and WordsAsStrongAsSwords!**

**Sincerely,**

**BlackRoseGirl666**


	28. Extra 2: E is For Evading

**Evading.**

Even though they were openly dating, or, more correctly, betrothed; they still made plans to meet at midnight almost weekly.

There was just something so… sweet, about it. It took them back to when their taboo romance between initiate and instructor was one of their worst secrets and all that really worried them was keeping their Divergent statuses under wraps and making sure Tris made it through initiation.

When they snuck off to the Fear Room and shared tentative, careful kisses…

They, understandably, missed those days.

Especially in a world where nothing seemed to stay the same for very long.

But, they still had their midnights. Their secret meetings were still theirs even when the rest of their life story was known across the factions.

So in some ways it was just like the old days.

Accept now they just had to be much more accurate in their ways of **evading** everyone.

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><p><strong>Yo. Just want to say thanks to all my lovely readers (again) and thank you for all the fabulous suggestions for Tris and Tobias's baby's name! Soon my readers I'll have the poll with my top three up because this is your last chance to submit entries. After the next (and absolutely <em>last<em>) chapter goes up there will be no more sending in any entries for names, you just vote for one of the three I like best!**

**That all cleared up, I'd like to thank the fallowing for Reviews and such: _Awesomet88, __Lovemusic2, __WordsAsStrongAsSwords _and _WouldLiketobeANONYMOUS!_**

**Thanks every body!**

**Sincerely,**

**BlackRoseGirl666**


	29. Extra 3: R is For Run End

**Run.**

Tris's black leather combat boots just nearly tripped her up as she jumped from the train, landing crouched as she caught her balance, Tobias's quiet chuckles ghosted over her moonlighted skin from her left.

Pulling herself to her to her full height, Tris perched her hands on her hips and grinned at him; something she rarely did unless they were alone.

It was late, just a little after twelve if her watch (the same one from her Abnegation days) was right. The moon in its full glory hung in a starry sky and cast a shimmering light over the forest. She could just see the top of the abandoned ferries wheel over the tops of the silver painted trees.

Excitement bloomed in her chest and she cast a challenging glance at Tobias before taking off into the bush, her feet fallowing no path but the one her mind and instincts painted for her.

They'd come here to hide from the ever-amounting pile of responsibilities they'd been accumulating lately. They hadn't known what they were going to do when they arrived, they'd just focused on getting out.

And now here they were.

She wasn't alone for long though, she felt Tobias running beside her only second later. His ability to find her no matter what never stopped amazing her.

Tris pushed on harder, her leggings picking up pace and the cold stinging her lungs with a sweet kind of pain as she dragged in air. She didn't know what had possessed her to start running, even though it was one of her favourite things to do besides zip-lining, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let him win.

Pushing herself as fast as she could go, Tris's feet barely kissed the ground as she dashed around the forest floor, intent on leading Tobias on as much of goose chase as she could before he caught her and kissed her senseless again.

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><p><strong>Wow. It's done and over. Over and done. Amazing. <strong>

**I want to thank everyone, and I mean _everyone_, who ever even read the first few lines of this story. Without you, my readers, there would be no story. **

**Thank you, for the last time, goes to: _booksaremylife4ever, Lovemusic2, Awesomet88, WouldliketobeANONYMOUSagain_ and _classyjazz93_ and all those who have ever REVIEWED!**

**Sincerely, **

**BlackRoseGirl666**

**Ps. The poll for Tris and Tobias's baby's name is up but taking a bit to load, so please be patient!**


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